Daisy's Diary

This foot thing is just a little setback, I'm not worried about it being a real injury or anything, it's just really annoying when I want to be able to go!

Today can either be described as a (kind of funny, kind of tragic) failure, or it can be described as overcoming these failures (of which there were many)... It's Monday. I decide to ride my bike to work. I'm starting things the right way. It's about a 5 mile bike ride. I have my things packed the night before, so I can get up and go. 4 miles in... you guessed it, what's the first thing that comes to mind when you think of problems that could arise from riding a bicycle? Flat tire. Totally and completely. I walked it the rest of the way. I work in a secured building, and as I showed the security guard my ID, I could literally feel pity emanating from him (it was also raining, but to me this was a perk, I love rain!). I shower, go to get dressed and... I don't have my sweater. I have a tank top, but nothing to wear over it. Luckily, I keep an extra robe/sweater thing at work because it's always freezing (ironically, even when its 90 degrees outside), so I wore that all day, but it did kind of look like I was carrying a blanket around with me through the halls. I'd run out of groceries (I usually pack my own lunch), but no matter...there's a cafeteria that serves healthy salads and other options. I was really busy this morning and finally got a break to grab something to eat around 1:30pm, so I go down to the cafeteria...and it's closed. Thankfully, there was one cafeteria lady still packing up, and she saw me and let me get a pre-made salad. Crisis averted...otherwise it would've been the snack room, where healthy options are nonexistent. The rest of the day went pretty smoothly. A co-worker gave me a ride home, and another one said he could help me get my bike back tomorrow, so all will be well. Yeah, Monday couldn't bring me down, so BRING IT ON, TUESDAY!!!! I'm also REALLY happy to find that I love biking to work! I'mso bummed I won't have my bike in the morning to ride again! I was nervous about it at first (traffic, being able to carry all my work stuff, getting there on time, etc). But now that I've done it once, I will DEFINITELY do it more (just gotta get that tire fixed!!) The day wasn't the most healthy in terms of eating (ugh...yeah that needed work :/) , but at least I found another way I can work out! I forgot to calorie count today :( If anyone has advice on food logging, any and all is much appreciated. I really want to start seeing some results.
 
Hi Daisy. What a day! Well done. I use My Fitness Pal when I want to track calories. It gets easier & easier to use the more you use it.
 
I just weigh what I can and estimate the rest. Apps and gadgets have so far got on my nerves more than they helped (except for the all-powerful fitbit, but even that has an annoying cal-count app), but different strokes for different folks and all that. Very well done on finding healthy food on a hard day! I feel so much better when I back to work, and in my case it even saves time. Too bad carfolk doesn't understand the principle of riding a bike for transport or I'd paddle to work even in this weather. As it is I'd probably get killed by someone who didn't remember bikes function even in October.
 
The saga of setbacks continued last night when, at around 10:00pm, I realized I had forgotten my phone charger at work. I had 10% battery life yet, and was terrified it was going to die before my alarm went of for work in the morning. So turning negative to a positive, I set my alarm early (I figured the earlier I set it, the less of a possibility there was of my phone dying before that time), and used the extra time I had in the morning to go to the gym. Thank heaven, the phone lived through the night (although it was kind of a restless night's sleep because I was worried the whole time), and I got a half hour of ellipticalling and 10 mins of TRX ab work in before work. It was so good, I think I'm going to do it again tomorrow!! (Especially because tonight by boyfriend's home baseball team is playing and we use games as "date nights" so I won't have time to exercise again tonight). I really need to go grocery shopping, but that hasn't happened yet, so again, my diet could have been improved. I packed a drink for breakfast that was a mixture of almond milk and vegan protein powder, but it was really gross, and I couldn't bring myself to drink it, so I had a granola bar...and then another one because I was hungry again an hour later :( yes, this totally could have been prevented had I just had healthy things on hand. My calorie count for the day has been good, so unless I blow it tonight (really hoping I don't blow it...), I will just have my 400 calorie deficit. I REALLY want to be able to run again. Even an easy after-work jog would put my mind at ease, but right now I don't think it is beneficial enough physically to justify the risk of further injury. Although it's been slower than I want it to be, I think my foot is healing. Just not as quickly as I would like it to. But then again, isn't that the case with everything?
 
Usually, yes :) I always set two alarms because I´m afraid something will keep one them from going off... I´m mental like that :p Don´t beat yourself up over that second granola bar; you still managed to achieve what you wanted for the day!
 
Oh boy...today was, and still is, a day. I went to the gym again this morning! (Really proud of myself for keeping up with this, and for having fun doing so :) ) but work was crazy. Just constant things going on. It was another 11 hour day, but probably shouldve been even longer. It just got to the point where my brain was fried and I needed to come home for a break (so now having to work from home...) I missed the run I told my friend I would join in on after work (so thankful for that morning gym sesh so the guilt wasnt as terrible), but I did make it back to see the second half of the baseball game with my boyfriend. I wasnt great about staying hydrated, and my diet wasnt perfect, but wasnt awful (I couldve done without the extra slice of pumpkin bread, but at least I made it with applesauce to make it nearly fat-free). I need the weekend, but there is still so much going on before then. I want to work out in the morning but also have to be into work early, so that might be hard. Its going to be a tough day at work, and tomorrow night is a concert, which will be AWESOME but also means sleep will be minimal haha Just gotta keep on keepin' on...
 
Glory hallelujah it's the weekend!! The past 48 hours have been crazy, but with a good amount of fun thrown in. There was a lot of work to do this week (and there will be next week too, mentally prepping for that now), but yesterday I had to leave no later than 5 because I got to go to a KEITH URBAN CONCERT!!! He is one of my favorite artists EVER!!! (And is even moreso now, after seeing him live!) Knowing I had to leave at 5, I got to work early, but I still didn't miss my time at the gym! It took a hefty dose of coffee to get me through the day, but it was totally worth it! The concert was amazing, but I didn't get home until late and also had to be back to work earlier than usual this morning to review some things before a presentation. I didn't make it to the gym this morning (it honestly would've done more harm than good at that point). I went out to lunch with some coworkers (something I've done once so far since June). Normally, I eat at my desk to get more work done, but it's also really important to build relationships with people at work A) because they are my friends and B) because they know I have their back when something comes up, and in turn, they have mine too. Sometimes that alone can create a healthy working environment that fosters efficiency, saving me more time later on than had I not gone out to lunch and worked from my desk. I kept it healthy too - we went to a mongolian barbecue place, but I had a stir fry that was 90% veggies/tofu and 10% brown rice noodles. It was cool because you pick your own ingredients, then you watch them make it on a big hot table right in front of you! That was new for me! I held it together at work for as long as I could, but started crashing (lack of sleep finally kicking in), so I brought my work stuff home and will have to get stuff done this weekend, but for now, this gal is having a chill night! I wanted to run, but at the concert my foot hurt really bad from wearing heels (they were low heels, but it didn't help the healing process). I thought it was going to hurt a lot more today, but I was pleasantly surprised that it seems to have gotten no worse. I'm not sure if its gotten better, but at least it wasn't too big of a setback. Tomorrow, I will try to run and see how it feels. I did 20 mins on the treadmill yesterday and that hurt, but maybe if I can get on some trails it will be better. (ANY excuse to get on the trails!!!) :) It might not be quite as early as I normally get up, though. I think I'm going to sleep in a little.
I still don't think I've lost anything, but it makes sense because my habits haven't changed enough. This weekend the goal is mindfulness. After a crazy week, I want to recover and improve. I am going to watch my calories to see how much I am actually taking in (vs how much I am actually burning off). I am going to drink waaaaay more water than I have been, because the increase in coffee this week led to a decrease in the amount of water I was drinking. And I am going to exercise.

Happy Friday everyone!!!
 
At least your colleagues are interested in eating and not just in drinking :p I think you NOT going to the gym the morning after the concert is a very healthy sign - not so sure about taking home for the weekend ;) Happy to hear you had so much fun!
 
Who is ready for another Monday??? Not me!!! But I do have some goals set for this week, so here we go:

1) Cook... What better way to learn how to cook than to do it? Plus, it means I'll have leftovers on hand and will be more likely to make healthy decisions later.
2) Spend $0.00. Yep, you heard that right. I think I have everything I need so I will need to spend NO MONEY this week. I grocery shopped last Friday, so I should have enough to get me through the week if I portion and plan. I don't even want to spend money on gas. I am currently fixing my bike tire so I can ride my bike to work. That comes to approximately $20 saved in gas throughout the week. I did laundry, so I will not run out of clothes to wear. And the rest is extra. The only thing I might really miss is a morning coffee, because the stuff at work tastes similar to dirt...not that I actually know what dirt tastes like, but I imagine it isn't very good.
3) Work out EVERY day. Time to get this booty IN SHAPE!!
4) Finish my class...this one shouldn't be too hard, I only have about 3 hours left.
5) Kick butt at work. This means staying completely focused so I can get everything done and be able to devote my time outside of work to other things that matter to me.
6) VOTE!! I vote by mail, so I can do it early. Gotta take care of my civic duties.
7) This one is a longer-term goal...if I can lose 10 lb by Christmas, I'm going to allow myself to get a tattoo that I've been wanting. I've never gotten one before, but this one is going to be special and I really want it before I go home for the holidays. But only if I can lose that stubborn 10!!

Can this be done in a week?? I'll keep you posted ;)
 
That´s a long list! But it sounds doable, I think. When I try not to spend money I usually eat healthier as well, because the non-healthy stuff I actually like the taste of isn´t the cheapest. And seasonal fruit/veg tend to be very affordable around here. And yes: do vote, please!
 
Daisy Mae said:
3) Work out EVERY day. Time to get this booty IN SHAPE!!
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Be careful with this one, if you have not been working out, much jumping into a solid week of training can lead to over doing it and lead to motivational problems later on.

The type of workouts also will have an effect on how often you should train, light - moderate cardio is fine each day but intensive training requires rest days to prevent over training injuries.
 
Trusylver said:
Be careful with this one, if you have not been working out, much jumping into a solid week of training can lead to over doing it and lead to motivational problems later on.
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Thanks for the pointers, Trusylver, but I'm all good :) I'm doing less now than I've ever done in my life, and still doing about 30 miles a week of running plus a couple gym workouts thrown in if I'm lucky. Anywhere from a half hour-90 mins of exercise each day is a no-brainer....or at least it would be if the day wasn't filled with other commitments. Right now, I just need to get out there and do it. It's not that I'm incapable. It's that I get tired after work and prioritize other things, but that approach isn't making me feel good about myself, so it's time to make a change to get back to what I really enjoy.
Tonight was a great way to start...it was like I redeemed the day. I accidentally bought the wrong kind of bike tire tube, so rather than biking I had to drive to work, which inevitably used gas, which kind of counts as spending money, sort of...I'll cut myself a break on that one because it is not outright spending money. But that meant I didn't get my morning bike ride in, and I worked for 11 hours, so there really wasn't much exercise during the day other than walking up and down a couple floors of stairs. But my diet throughout the day stayed on track, and when I got home it was beautiful and cool outside so I still wanted to run. It turned out to be an awesome run! Just did my usual 5 mile loop, but I felt great, and my foot didn't hurt at all! Came home feeling energized (and hungry). But I just had a healthy dinner, and am now going to work on some class work. So I'm going down the list, check, check, check! It's only Monday and Friday is a long way away, so I need to stay diligent, but so far so good! Now let's just hope I can cut it down to about 9 hours of work per day so I have time to have a life!
 
Good job running after work and eating healthy today! Cutting down on your work hours sounds like a very sensible thing to do, even if I'm sure it won't be easy at first.
 
I definitely want to be as efficient as possible while I am at work so I can stay for as little time as possible, and it is one of the things I am working on. I'm not inefficient, but I can still work on prioritizing what absolutely needs to be done, and what can wait. It's difficult because I am not the only one in this position. I'm not even the only new(ish) hire in this position. My friend, who I worked with last summer and who joined the same time as me this summer, got to work at 3:30 am yesterday, just to finish things before the start of the day. That makes 6:00 look like sleeping in!! Granted, he doesn't do that every day. But moral of the story, is that I am in an atmosphere of people who expect that the work gets done, and there's plenty of it in queue. I'm really trying though. Today was another 11 1/2 hours, but I got a lot accomplished, so I am hoping that I can either take this Friday off, or make it a half day. I'll go in early tomorrow and stay completely focused, so by the time 5:00 pm rolls around, I'll be able to start wrapping things up. The funny thing is that I have actually had a TON of energy this week! It may be because I am eating healthy, or it may be a mindset change, but whatever it is, I am not going to argue with it! After I got off today, I hurried home because it is the first game of the world series, and since the Cubs are there, you can be sure my boyfriend is watching it. I wanted to watch it really badly too. I made it on my run (only about 3 miles today) but again, my foot felt great, I was full of energy, and I ran a pretty fast 3 miles. I got back and am watching the last half of the game. I'll do some work without stressing myself out, stretch, ice my foot (just in case there is any lingering inflammation), read a chapter or two of my book, and go to bed. Tomorrow is mid-week. The week is like an endurance race - maybe by training at a faster pace, it'll be easier to sustain as time goes on. That's the hope anyway :)

So far so good with the budget goal...other than using gas. I've been drinking the dirt coffee in the morning and while it's not necessarily enjoyable, at least that's $2.45 that stays in my bank account. I'm portioning out food and hoping it makes it until Friday, but I found out that I might have to concede a little on Friday because some friends want to go to an apple orchard, and there is NO WAY I am missing that if they are! (No, I won't get donuts, but I am not walking out of there without a bushel of apples, especially if we get to pick them ourselves). That was one of my favorite things about fall back home :) And speaking of home, I got to talk to both my brothers today. The youngest had a cross country race today and did really well, so I was glad I got to congratulate him. The other is going to visit his girlfriend this weekend, so he was in a pretty chipper mood, too. I miss those two like crazy, but will get to see them in only 2 months time!!

Ok, so that's where things stand. Now it's time to get some stuff done while watching the baseball game. Happy Tuesday, all!
 
Hey Daisy - I'm Hana, just swinging by to say hello and welcome you to the forum - hope you're finding it as cathartic as I do!
 
Hey Hana, so I just did that awkward thing where you reply to someone on their page and your own...and accidentally call them by two different names on each. So...whoopsie :) haha But thanks for the welcome! So far the forum has been awesome! I love hearing from the other people on here, but I also have really enjoyed taking a break at the end of the day to speed type anything that crosses my brain (so really sorry for ya'll that have to read it).
Today was another good day! Not perfect, but good. I stuck to the zero spending goal again. I didn't even drink coffee during the day, yet somehow had energy, even though I was into work by 6am. I stayed focus and got a ton done, so I could leave by 5pm. I ate (almost) all healthy...my coworker coerced me with piece of chocolate in the middle of the day. So the chocolate sweet tooth is still alive and well. Darn. Beyond that, lunch consisted of 1/2 sweet potato, 1/2 chicken breast, and 1/2 avocado (the other halves were all eaten yesterday for lunch), and a yogurt for a snack later on. Tonight, I meal prepped for tomorrow, so Ill be prepared, and had a smoothie for dinner.
But most importantly today, I nurtured some relationships that I felt were being strained. There had been a few dry conversations with my boyfriend and my parents. It wasn't just my fault, but I was 50% of each equation. During my run (4.5 miles), I called my parents, and it made the miles fly by. I caught up with them and had fun running. Then I called my boyfriend before we really got into the baseball game (I sort of felt bad for calling during the game, but I also had stuff on my mind that really needed to be talked about). We finally talked about all the real-life stuff that had been piling up. and it was all the reassurance I needed that we have a good thing going. Got myself a keeper and even a couple thousand miles doesn't change that :) Then his team won the baseball game so it was just a really good night.
Now, to finish the last lesson of the class I am taking (before starting another), and get ready for bed <3 Tomorrow, I'm going to work on eliminating the junk food, getting more veggies in the diet (except I don't have many left and can't buy more until after my week of zero spending is up...although I think this has been good for me, I'm learning more about meal prepping and thinking ahead of time instead of just going for it and eating whatever because I know I can just buy more. It is a good way to save money and be mindful at the same time). And drinking more water throughout the day. I was bad about that.
Until tomorrow, all!! G'nite!
 
You rang people whilst running? You must be so fit - I'm usually deaf from the blood pumping in my ears and trying not to die of massive cardiac arrest. I couldn't even string a sentence together! Go you! I love the feeling of reconnecting with people and nurturing friendships/relationships. So important to make time for that. What baseball game were you chatting about? My husband is a die hard cubbies fan and rang me stupidly late last night/early this morning to tell. Haven't the heart to tell him I give no fucks about baseball. Poor chap. Are you guys long distance then?
 
O wow, to my mind your day was so close to perfect as makes no difference. You aced job, social interaction, exercise AND were 95% perfect on food? Awesome!
 
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